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UNORDAINED 

PREACHER 

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The Unordained 
Preacher 



By 

JAMES EDWIN BAIRD 
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Published by 

THE REVIEW PRESS 

Peoria, III. 



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BJtszt 



Copyright 1913 

by 

JAMES EDWIN BAIRD 



©CI.A33086: 



INTRODUCTORY 

As the title of this little book would indi- 
cate, the "sermons" it contains are not ortho- 
dox. They are, however, based on texts taken 
from the Bible. 

The author is not a preacher, in the com- 
mon acceptation of the word, but a business 
man, who does not believe the statement of 
the late famous senator, who said the Deca- 
logue and the Golden Rule have no place in 
modern politics and business. 

The first edition of "The Unordained 
Preacher" having met with such unexpected 
success, a second and larger edition is here 
presented, including several new "sermons." 

We are valuable to the world only as we 
render service. If the reading of this little 
book stimulates, even in a small degree, the 
desire for service, it will have accomplished 
its purpose. 

THE AUTHOR. 



BASE BALL AND BUSINESS. 

Text: He that tilleth his 
land shall be satisfied with 
bread; but he that followeth 
vain persons is void of under- 
standing". — Prov. 12:11. 

IF the old man doesn't give me a raise 
the first of the year I'm going to get 
another job. I've been here two years and a 
half now and I've only had one raise of $10 a 
month." 

Thus spoke a young man to a fellow clerk 
one day. He also added : "When the boss 
hired me he said if I 'made good' he'd have 
a good place for me some day. I've surely 
made good, for I've been on the job as regular 
as anybody, but I'll bet the old man don't know 
half the time who's here and who isn't. I'm 
getting tired working along here and never 
getting anywhere." 

Let's take a look at the young fellow, for at 
this writing he is still in the same position. 

He is a fine specimen, physically. He has 
a head that looks as if it contained brains, a 
bright eye and a pleasant face. He goes about 
his work, usually, in an apparently pleasant 
frame of mind, but those who knew him in- 
timately could see that he didn't give serious 
thought to his work. 

In conversation he did not talk of matters 
pertaining to the business in which he was em- 



ployed, but discussed the news of the sporting 
page of the last edition. He was as familiar 
with the name of the leaders in the sporting 
world as a D. D. is with the names of the 
twelve apostles. 

One day the "old man," having heard of the 
complaints of the young man, called him into 
the office. 

"Harry," he said, "Perkins and I have had 
a little argument and you can perhaps settle 
the dispute. It isn't exactly of importance, nor 
does it concern the business, but I believe your 
memory will assist us." 

Harry smiled his satisfaction at the thought 
that at last the "old man" was beginning to 
recognize that he was more than a common 
clerk, and he took the seat indicated with the 
air of a judge of the supreme court. 

"Can you tell me," inquired his employer, 
"who composed the team of the Red Sox the 
past season?" 

"Yes sir," said Harry, promptly, and he rat- 
tled them off as glibly as a mother would the 
names of her own children. 

"Can you name the Giants, also?" 

"Sure," Harry replied, and he enumerated 
them without a slip. 

"What a wonderful memory you have," said 
his employer. "What were the gate receipts 
during the world's championship series?" 

Harry quoted the amount as readily as 
though he had just counted it. 



"Well, that is certainly remarkable," said 
the "old man." "Now, I want you to do a 
little special work for me; compile some in- 
formation for our directors. By the way, who 
are the directors of our company?" 

Harry named three of the six directors, stam- 
mered, blushed, and confessed he couldn't name 
the others. 

"What were our sales last year?" 

"I don't remember." 

"What was the amount of sales in your de- 
partment last month?" 

"I really can't tell." 

"Do you know how many people are em- 
ployed in the house?" 

"No sir." 

"Do you know how much salary you are 
getting?" 

"Yes sir." 

"Well, I'm not going to ask you whether 
you are earning it. You have been complain- 
ing that you were not being advanced, that I 
wasn't living up to my promises. If you had 
been as diligent to post yourself about the 
business that is supporting you as you have 
to keep posted on sporting events, and used 
your brains in developing ideas for the promo- 
tion of the business you were supposed to b^ 
engaged in, you might have been at the head 
of your department by this time." 

This is but a brief synopsis of what took 
place, but it serves to point a moral. The 



young man was bright enough to see the point 
and man enough to acknowledge that he had 
received a jolt that knocked a few scales from 
his eyes. He has made a good start toward 
the front office and if he has the backbone to 
keep aloof from the old crowd he will get 
there. 

Now, there is nothing in this intended to 
even intimate that even the most methodical 
business man shouldn't go to see the great 
American game when he can, and yell himself 
hoarse if he wants to ; or chase a golf ball five 
times around a half section of land, but it is 
intended to remind us that we can't devote all 
of our enthusiasm to play, and at the same 
time make a success of our business. 

It is true that we are living in a rapid age, 
and large business institutions are built quick- 
ly, but they are not built without close atten- 
tion to business. 

The sporty young man may shine in the pool 
room gang, but if he "makes good" in the busi- 
ness world he must learn the value of service; 
he must put his heart into his work, and re- 
member that the employe who never does any 
more than he is paid for will never get paid 
for any more than he does. 



STEALING VS. MISAPPROPRIATION. 

Text: Let him that stole 
steal no more. — Eph. 4:28. 

IF all thieves were punished as they are 
in some countries, by having their 
heads shaved, then smeared with tar and the 
contents of a feather pillow poured over them, 
we would see queer sights on our streets, in 
our churches, in congressional halls and busi- 
ness offices. 

There would also be a greater advance in the 
prices of tar and feathers than there has been 
in eggs. Or, if all thieves were sent to the 
penitentiary, or county jail, there would be 
need for large appropriations to make exten- 
sive additions. 

"Where are you going ?" asked a gentleman 
one Sunday morning of a prison chaplain. 

"I am going to preach to the prisoners in 
the penitentiary," replied the chaplain. 

"A hard audience/' said the first speaker as 
he shook his head. 

"Not so different from your pastor's fashion- 
able audience as you may think," remarked 
the chaplain. 

"For instance, there is a laundress in the 
prison who was sent there for pawning some 
shirts in order to raise a little money to buy 
food for her family. She intended to redeem 
them in a day or two and send them to the 
owner at the usual time, but the illegal act was 



discovered and she was sent to prison. If 
every man in your pastor's rich audience who 
has illegally borrowed money on the security 
of trust funds was sent to jail, don't you think 
it would thin out his audience somewhat?" 

And there is a man in the prison for selling 
cigars that had not paid the revenue tax. Sup- 
pose all the rich ladies in your pastor's audi- 
ence, who, on returning from Europe, have 
smuggled in laces and silks that were liable to 
duty, were sent to the penitentiary, don't you 
think it would rather crowd the woman's de- 
partment?" 

Of course ,there is a difference in the art 
of stealing. The thief who is so clumsy as 
to get caught is counted a fool, while he who 
steals and escapes punishment is counted a 
smart man. 

We have a wonderful amount of smart men 
in this day and generation. There are also 
two classes of those who get caught. 

The common thief who holds up the rich 
lady on the street and robs her of her jewelry, 
if caught, gets thirty years ; while the man who 
robs a whole community of poor working peo- 
ple of the last dollar they have by an illegal use 
of the funds of a saving bank, gets a two years' 
sentence and then gets pardoned. 

Yes, there is still another class, and they 
are the ones who fail in business — for revenue 
only, and are not punished at all. 

Public sentiment is against highway rob- 

10 



bery, and therefore the footpad and the com- 
mon burglar are not received in polite society; 
they must keep under cover during the day 
and do not have any known place of business. 

But how much worse are the ordinary 
thieves than the high-toned ones? When it 
becomes necessary in order to get recognition 
for any measure before city, county or state, 
to "put up" handsomely to those we have 
elected to public office, and to whom we pay 
good salaries, what else can we call it but 
robbery? 

Why do men spend five times what a public 
office pays in legitimate salary in order to be 
elected? But to call such a one a thief would 
be an unpardonable sin in the eyes of the 
society in which he moves. 

Is not stealing taking that which does not 
belong to you? If so, then is it not stealing 
for a man to refuse to do his duty as a public 
officer without being paid in addition to the 
salary which he agrees to work for by taking 
the oath of office and swearing solemnly to 
perform his duty faithfully and impartially? 
It is a well known fact that a citizen without 
means stands small chance of having any 
wrong righted, especially if a wealthy citizen 
is opposed to the reform. 

There are exceptions, of course, to all rules, 
but old Diogenes would have almost as hard 
a time in certain circles now to find an honest 
man as when he tramped the streets of Athens. 

11 



Public officials are not the only ones. I 
know a man who failed in business. It was 
commonly reported that he had made good 
money from the failure, yet he walked the 
streets without fear of arrest and his creditors 
were paid but a few cents on the dollar. 

He soon started in business again in his 
wife's name. He did a big business, for he 
was a hustler and a good advertiser and sold 
on close margins. 

He paid his bills promptly for a while and 
when his business began to be largely sought 
after by jobbers and manufacturers who be- 
lieved he was good for all he would buy, he 
bought heavily, and then he began to sell 
goods for less than the cost of manufacture. 

This, of course, brought him scores of buy- 
ers and he succeeded in taking in a large 
amount of cash before being pressed for the 
payment of his bills. 

Then he failed — made an assignment for the 
benefit of his creditors. A deliberate steal of 
thousands of dollars, but he was not even 
arrested, to say nothing of being made to serve 
a term in the penitentiary. 

If this same man had walked into his neigh- 
bor's store and taken $100 from the cash 
drawer, and it had been discovered, he would 
have been compelled to go to jail and his fami- 
ly would have been disgraced and shunned by 
polite society. A distinction without a dif- 
ference. 

12 



Last winter a footpad was sentenced to 
the penitentiary for thirty years for highway 
robbery and many people complained that the 
judge was too severe. 

Compared to other sentences he was, but 
there should be little leniency shown habitual 
criminals. This thing of giving short sentences 
to criminals and sending them out again and 
again to renew their trade is wrong. 

A man may be tempted to commit a crime 
without really wanting to do wrong and be 
sincerely penitent. To such it is right to show 
leniency*. But when he commits a second 
offense because he got off easy the first time, 
he should be classed a habitual criminal and 
shut up in mercy to society. 

A boy was asked by his teacher why light- 
ning never struck twice in the same place, and 
he answered : "It never needs to." If pun- 
ishment were as swift and severe as it ought to 
be to those who deliberately rob their fellows 
it would never need to strike the same man 
six times as is often the case nowadays. 

Employes sometimes steal time from their 
employers, and sometimes employers make 
their employes work overtime without com- 
pensation, or rob them of their Sundays. Some 
manufacturers steal from their customers by 
adulterating their goods. But time would fail 
me to enumerate all of the forms of stealing 
practiced. "Let him that stole steal no more." 



13 



CONSERVE YOUR STRENGTH. 

Text: I said in the cutting 
off of my days, I shall go to 
the gates of my grave: I am 
deprived of the residue of my 
years. — Isaiah 38:10. 

DEATH is sad at any time, but doubly so 
when it claims its victims from youth, 
just on the verge of what appears to be a bright 
career, or from middle age, just when men who 
have labored long and hard and have sur- 
mounted difficulties and find themselves in 
sight, and almost in possession, of the prize 
they have coveted. 

Hezekiah, who uttered the words of our text, 
while a good man, was exceedingly sorrow- 
ful when told that he must die before he was 
old. 

The record says that he turned his face to 
the wall and prayed for more time, and the 
Lord promised to add fifteen years to his life. 

Miracles are not frequent in these days and 
usually when a man's time comes to die he 
dies in spite of his prayers and vows to do 
better if his term of life is extended. 

How many men of our time are where Heze- 
kiah thought he was — at the gates of the grave 
and deprived of the residue of their years! 
Every day we pick up the daily paper and read 
of this man and that man whom we knew, 
either personally, or by reputation, being sud- 

14 



denly removed to ^he great beyond, and yet 
we scarcely feel that we can take time from 
our work to read the account or send a letter 
of condolence to the family. 

I have a feeling of pity for the man to whom 
death is a terror, for there is nothing more 
sure in this world than that we must all meet 
it, and to be in constant dread of it takes the 
sunshine out of life. 

But there are few men who are anxious to 
launch out into eternity one minute sooner than 
they are compelled to. Why, then, should we 
not conserve our forces? Why not make the 
most of life instead of constantly defying the 
laws of nature and wrecking our physical 
bodies? 

We know of men at the head of great insti- 
tutions of whom it is said that they are at their 
desks earlier and later than any of their sub- 
ordinates ; that they know every detail of their 
business and can step in and fill the place of 
any man in their employ. 

Such men furnish material for the biogra- 
phers, and too often they furnish material for 
the undertaker at a time when, if a more con- 
servative policy had been adopted, they would 
have been enjoying life with their families. 

It is commendable for a man to be ambitious, 
and he cannot succeed in this world of com- 
petition without work, and energetic work at 
that, but energy without a safety valve is dan- 
gerous to the constitution. 

15 



Our nerve forces are like a spring; they will 
stand a certain amount of tension without in- 
jury, but when the strain is too great they 
break. 

A man at the head of an institution should 
be the head and not attempt to be the feet and 
hands. 

Whenever a business institution of any char- 
acter reaches the point where it is necessary 
to employ help, that help should be of a char- 
acter that can assume responsibility. 

A director-general or manager of a business 
has enough to do to see that his lieutenants 
do the work, without pretending to look after 
the details himself. 

There are plenty of men who read this book 
who think they cannot get away from their 
business for a few days pleasure, rest or re- 
creation without the business suffering; who 
feel that it is absolutely necessary for them to 
be there early and late every day and spend half 
their nights worrying over little things that 
they are paying some one else to look after; 
and who would gladly assume the responsi- 
bility and be better off if only made to feel it. 

These men think their business would suffer 
if they relinquished their hold on details, and 
yet some of these days they will go home for 
the last time while yet in the very prime of 
life. There will be a funeral, a consultation of 
stockholders, a new manager appointed and 
the business will continue. 

16 



How much better it would be to unload some 
of the work. A man at the head of an insti- 
tution can plan better, can direct better, can 
produce better results if he keeps his physical 
condition good; it is a matter of economy; 
while on the other hand the undertaking of so 
much detail and the long hours of trying labor 
is extravagance. The mind and body must 
have a sufficient amount of rest to restore the 
force that has been expended. Anything less 
is robbing nature ; it is suicide, no matter if we 
do call it energy and ambition. 

A little healthful sport is a good thing to 
sandwich in between the strenuous days of 
modern business. There is no doubt that the 
purchase of a set of golf clubs has postponed 
the day of many a funeral. 

There is an old saying that it is better to 
wear out than to rust out, but there is a wide 
difference between laziness and overwork. To 
be temperate in all things is the best way to 
preserve life. 






17 



RACHEL AND THE SHEEP. 

Text: Rachel came with her 
father's sheep; for she kept 
them. — Genesis 29:30. 

THE man who can read the history of the 
life of Rachel, the description of her 
personal charms, and of her devotion to her 
husband, without feeling that he should have 
enjoyed being in Jacob's place when he met 
her at the well and drew water for her flock 
and then kissed her, deserves to be relegated 
to the haunts of eternal bachelordom or trans- 
ported to some far-oflf isle where woman's 
beauty and wifely devotion are unheard of. 

I am too much of a lover of the fair sex to 
even hint that there are not millions of just as 
handsome girls and as faithful and devoted 
wives today as even Rachel herself, although 
I do doubt if there are very many men of the 
present time who would give seven years of 
the best part of their lives for the privilege of 
marrying the women of their choice. 

I am not one of those who would turn the 
wheels of time backwards, or who sigh for the 
"good old times, " but there is no denying the 
fact that there are some features of modern 
life, and what is termed modern progress, that 
do not seem conducive to the best interests 
of the present and future generations, and one 
of these is the employment of females in the 
industrial occupations. 

18 



On this point I am a kicker, a behind-date 
crank and an advocate of a return to something 
of primitive methods. 

Rachel kept her father's flock, which was all 
well enough, because her father was short on 
boys. 

It was no uncommon thing in those days for 
young women to tend the flocks of their fath- 
ers, and it is no disgrace for any young woman 
of the present day to do cooking, dish-washing 
and sewing in her father's home; indeed there 
would be fewer divorce cases if more of them 
would do so. 

I am also free to say that I do not consider 
that it is any disgrace for a young woman to 
wash dishes or cook in the home of any one 
else, any more than it is a disgrace to be a 
bookkeeper or a stenographer in a business 
office; yea, to be a "kitchen mechanic" is far 
more respectable than to be a stenographer in 
some of the private offices down town. 

The point I want to make is, that for the 
best interests of society and the welfare of the 
nation, no young woman should leave the par- 
ental roof to seek employment in competition 
with men unless absolutely compelled to do so. 

There are circumstances, of course, which 
make such a course necessary, but there is one 
thing that cannot escape the notice of observ- 
ing persons, which is, that under present indus- 
trial conditions the cases born of such circum- 

19 



stances are bound to increase instead of 
diminish. 

It now seems to be the rule instead of the 
exception for young women to seek employ- 
ment in commercial lines. 

This is because women have become such 
powerful factors in labor circles that thous- 
ands of places are being filled by them today 
at about one-half the former wages of men, 
crowding out men entirely, or compelling them 
to work for wages that are inadequate to the 
support of a family, and the result is, that 
as soon as the off-spring of such men are old 
enough to work they must become bread earn- 
ers; they enter the field of competition in labor 
before they have completed their education. 

The "business colleges" all over the land are 
today grinding out large grists of stenogra- 
phers (?) each term, providing them with 
diplomas which declare them "graduates," 
when they have no more idea of punctuation, 
capitalization or the sensible construction of a 
sentence than a poll parrot. 

They are willing to work in an office for 
from three to five dollars a week — and there 
are men who will employ them and put up with 
poor work because they can get them so cheap, 
especially if they are pretty. 

The labor market is glutted with this class 
of stenographers, while there are thousands of 
places in elegant homes awaiting girls who are 
neat and clean and who know how to cook a 

20 



meal that won't drive a man to strong drink 
and the abuse of his family, and at wages 
that will net double the amount that a large 
percentage of the stenographers realize. 

I am fully aware of the objections that will 
be offered to accepting kitchen work, and of 
that subject I shall have more to say in another 
discourse. 

I am not attempting to cast any reflections 
on the many stenographers of really superior 
ability, who could even give their employers 
"cards and spades" on punctuation and then 
beat them. 

Well educated young women are often better 
stenographers and better salespeople than men, 
but that does not alter the situation. 

Men were made to be the bread-winners, and 
women were made to be the mothers and 
housekeepers. 

With women to compete with, men cannot 
command the salaries that will justify them in 
attempting to marry and provide homes at the 
present day standard of living. 

I have no desire to invoke the displeasure of 
my lady friends; it is because of my high re- 
gard for them that I, like Paul, would have 
the elder women "teach the young women to 
be sober, to love their husbands, to love their 
children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at 
home, ,, etc., etc. 

I will admit that it is more pleasant to a 
man who loves female society to have a sweet 

21 



young woman at his side taking dictation than 
to talk to a man or a graphophone, and I also 
admit that men ought to use only such lan- 
guage in their offices as they would not blush 
to have their wives and daughters hear, but 
it is a fact that many do not. 

Girls who work in factories receive much 
less regard at the hands of men than those 
employed in business offices. According to 
the annual report of the labor commissioner 
of one of our western states there were em- 
ployed in the factories of that state 57,921 
males and 15,622 females. This does not 
include the stores and offices, which would 
largely increase the number, but simply the 
factories. 

After all, it is the men who are to blame 
for the present conditions, and men must apply 
a remedy if a cure is ever effected. The 
Preacher, for one, is in favor of going back to 
the ways of the "good old times" so far as the 
employment of females in factories and offices 
is concerned, and in giving the young men a 
chance. 

Let Rachel keep her father's sheep. 



22 



A LESSON FROM KANSAS. 

Text: There is that maketh 
himself rich, yet hath noth- 
ing; there is that maketh 
himself poor, yet hath great 
riches, — Prov. 13:7. 

OUT there in Kansas ;" the state that has 
received more advertising on account 
of a few of its cranks who have put themselves 
in bad odor, than any other state in the Union ; 
a state that has become famous for many- 
things — some good and some bad; in Kansas 
there lived a man who started out at the age 
of twenty-one to get rich. 

He worked on a salary for five years. He 
boarded himself and barely ate enough to give 
him strength for his day's work. 

He worked far into the night to make repairs 
on the posterior portion of his trousers. 

He borrowed all the books and papers he 
read. He went to church once on Sundays, 
but he never contributed a nickel to the support 
of the Gospel. 

When he got a few dollars ahead he would 
loan it to some of his more extravagant fellow 
clerks on absolutely good security at ten per 
cent per month. 

At the end of five years he had a snug sum 
saved. Cupid got in his work somehow and 
he got married, but he only spent $1.75 for 

23 



entertainment of his sweetheart during court- 
ship. 

He got a new suit of clothes when he was 
married, because he had to have a new suit 
anyway. 

He spent $25 for household furniture, and 
had $2,000 left to buy a stock of goods. 

He hired the cheapest help he could get 
and made one person do the work of two. 

He might have had a large business if he had 
pursued a more liberal policy, but as he bought 
for cash, he bought low, and he sold for cash 
— always at a profit. 

He worked early and late himself, and kept 
his own books, did his own buying and kept 
down every possible expense. 

At forty he was hump-backed and hollow- 
eyed. What little hair he had was gray and he 
had a cough that made everybody about the 
place shiver. 

His doctor and those who knew him — he had 
no friends — advised him to get away from the 
store and take a rest. He said he would after 
a while, but he couldn't leave his business then. 

This man left the store one day not long 
ago and he hasn't returned. They say travel- 
ers never get back from the place he has 
gone to. 

His wife shed a few tears, not because he 
had made life happy for her, but because she 
was a good woman and she does not expect him 

24 



to meet her on the Golden Shore. His golden 
shore was on this side. 

His two boys looked solemn for the sake of 
appearances, but they are now having a good 
time with the old man's money. Oh, yes! he 
was rich when he died ; not as rich as Carnegie 
or Rockefeller, but rich enough so that he 
might have retired from business a few years 
ago. 

He made himself rich, but he had nothing, 
not even a large funeral. He had no enjoy- 
ment in life but to worship the almighty dollar. 

Does he not answer the description of a man 
who maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing? 

Such a man has absolutely nothing that is 
worth having; he hasn't even money, be- 
cause he will not use it to purchase the com- 
forts of life ; he has no friends, which is one of 
the best assets a man can have. He goes to 
his grave unmourned. 

A man who has only a modest home and a 
business that is only sufficient to provide for 
the needs of his family is considered a poor 
man as worldly estimates go. 

I have in mind such a man. He, too, lives 
in Kansas. 

He is not extravagant, he does not spend his 
substance in riotous living, but he is generous. 

He keeps two clerks and pays them wages 
that enable them to live and save a little 
money. 

25 



He contributes to every cause that is for 
the betterment of his town and community. 

He is especially kind and generous to the 
worthy poor who need help, and the night is 
never too dark for him to go out of his way to 
lighten some one's burden. 

With all of these benevolent qualities, he is 
a good business men; of a jovial disposition; 
never too busy to greet the traveling men 
pleasantly, and sends every customer away 
smiling. 

As a result of his generous policy his bank 
account is never large enough to cause him to 
worry for fear the bank will fail, but he is 
rich because he is getting the enjoyment out of 
life that comes to every man who is unselfish, 
honorable and upright. 

Some business men get the idea that to be 
successful they must be churlish and austere, 
always absorbed in business matters, but it is 
a great mistake. 

It is well for us to occasionally ask ourselves 
what we are here for. Is it simply to make 
money and for nothing else? 

If everyone went on that principle, do you 
think this would be a pleasant world to live in? 

Then, if it is wrong for everyone to adopt 
that principle of living, is it not wrong for 
you and me? 



26 



FIGHT ONLY WHEN NECESSARY. 

Text: If it be possible, as 
much as lieth in you live 
peaceably with all men. — 
Romans 12:18. 

THERE is a whole lot of splendid advice 
to be found in the Bible, which, if 
followed, would make this world of ours a 
much more pleasant abiding place than it is, 
but there is none better than this of our text. 

You will notice that the apostle recognized 
the fact that we are all human and that there 
might be times when it would be impossible to 
get along peaceably with our fellow men, or 
when we would be justified in indulging in a 
little warfare; therefore, he says, "If it be 
possible. " 

I believe there are occasions when a man is 
justified in fighting, and no one blames a man 
for fighting for a just cause. 

There is no excuse, however, for a man or 
woman going about with a chip on the 
shoulder. There are too many such people in 
the world, although a great many of them have 
left this world via the gallows route. 

Hundreds of murders have been committed 
because some slight or imagined insult has 
been followed up until it ended fatally for one 
or more of the participants. 

I once knew two men, neighbors, prominent 
citizens in the town in which they lived, who 

27 



had some words over the trifling matter of cis- 
tern water — the one using water from the 
other's cistern. 

The quarrel continued until one day it cul- 
minated in a fight in which one man killed the 
other. He was cleared on the plea of self- 
defense, but the happiness of two families was 
destroyed. 

Even husbands and wives sometimes develop 
a quarrel from a mere nothing that frequently 
ends in a suit for divorce and not infrequently 
in murder or suicide, or both. 

We are none of us so saintly that we are 
not sometimes provoked to anger. Sometimes 
the provocation is such that we can't help it, 
but if we will attempt to curb our passions, 
and as much as possible avoid quarrels, we 
will find that the cases where they are neces- 
sary are very rare. 

In nearly every case if we "give in" to the 
other fellow we will find the quarrel more 
quickly settled and our opponent more effect- 
ually "squelched" than if we keep up the fight. 

A mother once told her little son not to quar- 
rel with his playmate but heap coals of fire t 
on his head. One day she heard some loud 
talking in the room where the little fellows 
had been playing, and she started in to see 
what the trouble was. She met her young 
hopeful with the fire shovel in his hand. She 
inquired where he was going and he explained 

28 



that she had instructed him not to quarrel with 
Tommy but to heap coals of fire on his head, 
"and," said he, "I am going to the kitchen for 
the coals." 

Without being so literal as the boy intended 
to be we can avoid much trouble by heaping a 
few coals on the head of an obstreperous neigh- 
bor or competitor in business. 

Of course, you never said it yourself, but 
how often have you heard men say, "I'll get 
even with that son-of-a-gun if it's the last 
thing I ever do." 

That kind of a spirit does not make for peace. 

Many a long-drawn-out and expensive law 
suit might have been avoided if the parties to 
the suit, or even one of them, had done all he 
could to live peaceably. 

I heard of an instance the other day that 
illustrates how readily the average man will 
"give in" if the "other fellow" makes the con- 
cession. 

A certain tract of land had been "lawed over" 
for years because of a dispute about the line 
fence. One day a lawyer bought the land, 
getting it cheaply because the owner could see 
nothing ahead but trouble with his neighbor, 
who insisted that the line fence had been set on 
his land. 

The neighbors supposed the fight would be 
renewed by the lawyer, and the owner of the 
adjoining land was sure of it, so when he saw 

29 



Mr. Lawyer coming across the field he braced 
himself for a fight. 

The lawyer greeted his new neighbor pleas- 
antly and said : "What's your claim here, any- 
way, as to this fence?" 

"I insist," replied his neighbor, "that your 
fence is over on my land two feet at one end 
and one foot at least on the other end." 

"Well," replied the lawyer, "You go ahead 
just as quickly as you can and set your fence 
over. At the end where you say that I en- 
croach on you two feet, set the fence on my 
land four feet. At the other end push it on my 
land two feet. 

"But that's twice what I claim," said the 
neighbor. 

"I don't care about that," said the lawyer, 
"there's been fight enough over this land, and 
I want you to take enough to satisfy you per- 
fectly and then we can get along pleasantly. 
Go ahead and help yourself." 

The man wasn't looking for anything of 
that kind. 

He had prepared himself to take up the old 
fight and fight it out. He was silent a few mo- 
ments and then he said : "Squire, that fence 
ain't going to be moved an inch. I don't want 
the land ; there was nothing in the fight but the 
principle of the thing in the first place." 

It's all right enough to stand up for prin- 
ciple on certain occasions, but if we take 

30 



the advice contained in our text and live peace- 
ably with all men as far as it is possible for us 
so to do, even to the point of sacrificing a little, 
we can accomplish more good in the world, 
have fewer enemies and be much happier. 



IF 



31 



WHAT IS A SERVANT? 

Text: Masters give unto 
your servants that which is 
just and equal. — Collossians 
4:1. 

I took occasion, in another chapter, to criti- 
cise the present day methods of employ- 
ing female help in offices, stores and factories, 
on the ground that it cheapened the price of 
labor and either prevented young men from 
getting employment or compelled them to work 
for wages insufficient to support a family, 
causing an increase of celibacy which everyone 
knows does not have a tendency to raise the 
moral standard of a community. 

As anticipated, I aroused some opposition on 
the part of the women who claim the right to 
enter the industrial field in competition with 
men, but I still hold to the original proposition. 

I mentioned the fact that the market was 
glutted with would-be stenographers, willing to 
work at wages that would not pay for their 
board, car-fare and clothing, while there were 
thousands of elegant homes awaiting girls who 
are neat and clean and who know how to cook, 
and where the compensation, which includes 
board, is far better than the net earnings of the 
average clerk or stenographer. 

As stated, I know the objections offered to 
the latter, and it is of this I want to "preach" 
at this time. 

32 



We are not dealing with idle theories in dis- 
cussing these topics; it must be admitted that 
the labor question is one of the questions of the 
day and the female factor is by no means a 
small part of the problem. 

It is one in which every business man is 
interested. "The servant girl problem" is given 
space in every class of publication from the 
two-by-four weekly with a patent inside to the 
high-grade family magazine. 

"Where can I get a good girl?" is the ques- 
tion one hears on the street, in the cars, or when 
one goes calling. 

The want columns of the daily papers are 
crowded with such advertisements as, "Want- 
ed : a good girl for general housework. Good 
wages." 

But the advertisements bring few returns, 
while in the next column are equally as many 
advertisements of girls seeking positions as 
stenographers or cashiers at almost any old 
wages. 

This thing ought to be equalized. 

Can it be? It can, but it will not be until 
more people get rid of some of their foolish 
ideas. 

Why is it that a young woman who has a 
moderate education and is refined, who has 
learned from her mother how to cook, but 
through the mismanagement of misfortunes of 
her father finds herself thrown on her own re- 
sources, does not apply to some of these places 

33 



where a good girl is wanted for cooking or 
general housework, instead of seeking a com- 
mercial position? 

Because in the former place she would be a 
"servant;" in many places a mere chattle, not 
supposed to possess any feelings common to a 
well-bred human being. 

When her evening's work is done she will be 
expected to occupy the kitchen or a small room 
in the attic in solitude. 

To invite her into the living room and permit 
her to engage in conversation with the family 
would be treating her as an equal, and that 
would never do ; "servants" must know their 
place and keep it. 

The result is that many who need to employ 
household help must put up with negroes and 
ignorant white help, people who have no higher 
motive in life than to simply exist and are will- 
ing to be treated as menials for the sake of 
food and shelter. 

There are wealthy people, of course, who can 
well afford to pay any price for what they 
want and who can pay sufficient wages to 
make it an object for a refined girl to take a 
position as housemaid. 

But no matter how refined or how intelli- 
gent the housemaid, the "business girl," the 
stenographer or the saleslady will not associate 
with her. 

If the lady of the house has no maid and is 
compelled for a time to do her own cooking and 

34 



housework, does she or her neighbors consider 
that she has disgraced herself? By no means. 

Why then should one who is employed to do 
such work be humiliated? Why should not 
the woman who does the kitchen work — if she 
be a lady — have as much consideration as the 
young woman who is private secretary or 
cashier for the husband down town? 

What is a servant? Anyone who serves an- 
other for pay. Why, then, should there be 
such discrimination? 

I knew a young lady once, of poor but re- 
spectable parentage, who worked out as a 
"hired girl." She was well treated where she 
worked and remained for several years. 

Of course she had no standing in society, for 
she was "Mrs. So-and-So's hired girl." 

A young business man who admired her and 
had notions of his own married her. 

The young man was prosperous and is today 
"well off." The erstwhile servant girl is wel- 
comed at the homes of those who formerly 
turned up their noses at her approach, and yet 
she is the same woman. 

Is she any better because her husband is a 
well-to-do merchant and she presides over her 
own home? 

I am not attempting to argue that all classes 
of society, good and bad, should mingle, for 
there are bound to be classes to some extent, 
but I do claim that people should be judged 
on their merits and not by their worldly pos- 

35 



sessions, or the class of service they perform, 
if it is honorable. 

I realize fully that there are many servants 
in all lines, from kitchen girls to managers of 
business houses, who do not know how to 
appreciate good treatment, who will abuse any 
good treatment accorded them; such people 
have to be muzzled. It is indiscriminate dis- 
crimination that is wrong. 

If God is no respector of persons why should 
we draw the lines so closely? 




36 



IT PAYS TO HAVE FRIENDS. 

Text: A man that hath 
friends must show himself 
friendly. — Prov. 18:24. 

THERE is a statement that ought to be 
easy of comprehension. 

It would seem that anyone ought to know 
that if he would have friends he must himself 
be friendly, just as it would seem that any 
man, not absolutely a fool, ought to know 
that "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall 
he also reap/' and yet the actions of many men 
would lead me to think that they did not be- 
lieve either statement. 

One of the most valuable assets a man can 
have in this world is friends, — not shams; not 
people who pretend to be your friends when 
they want to use you to serve their own 
selfish ends, but friends who are ready and 
willing to do you service when you need it, and 
without the hope of remuneration. 

They are the friends that count. 

Persons who have plenty of money do not 
realize the need of friends so much as those 
who are in poorer circumstances, for the 
former can, by the aid of money purchase al- 
most any favor to be had. 

The man who is in the habit of buying his 
way through life grows cold and selfish. 
While he has money he can buy what he wants 

37 



and he forgets to be kind to those less fortu- 
nate, and if through misfortune or mismanage- 
ment he needs favors for which he hasn't the 
money to pay, he finds that he has no friends 
who will help him. He has neglected to show 
himself friendly and therefore is without 
friends. 

When I was a very young man I left home 
to try my fortune among strangers. In a few 
months I was taken sick ; my condition grew 
serious and my physician said he had done 
all he could for me and he feared I could not 
live. I had been employed by a merchant of 
considerable means. He called to see me and 
learning my condition he told his wife that 
I was not receiving the attention I ought to 
have, and the two came and nursed me through 
the crisis, and as soon as I was able to be 
moved sent their carriage and took me to their 
own home. 

I had used up my little savings, but this man 
said : 'Come to me for whatever money you 
need; go home and recuperate, and then come 
back and work for me." Can I ever forget 
it? I should be very ungrateful if I did, or if 
I should miss an opportunity to do that man 
or his family a good turn. 

The business man who would succeed must 
have friends. Some men say that friendship 
has no place in business, but the haughty, cold- 
blooded man who thinks the public would as 
soon do business with him as with the man 

38 



who always has a warm welcome for his cus- 
tomers, and who is willing to grant favors, will 
find that his balance sheet does not bear out 
his theory. People will go blocks out of their 
way to do business with a friendly man. The 
man who has a monopoly on any product that 
the public needs will get a certain amount of 
business, no matter what his disposition, but 
even he will find that it pays to be friendly. 
God pity the man who has no friends. 






39 



ALWAYS A PLACE FOR THE RIGHT 
MAN. 

Text: Therefore said he 
unto them, the harvest truly 
is great, but the laborers are 
few. — Luke 10:2. 

THESE words were used by Christ when 
He sent his committee of seventy forth 
to preach the Gospel. 

Evidently there is as great need for workers 
in that field now as there was then, for in spite 
of the vast army of preachers and missionaries 
the "worldly people" seem to be in the ma- 
jority. 

The trouble seems to be largely in the fact 
that too many preachers and missionaries have 
missed their calling. 

This reminds me of the young man who en- 
tered the ministry after leaving the home of an 
aunt who had raised him. After a few years he 
returned to visit his aunt and, very naturally, 
was invited to occupy one of the pulpits in his 
native town. 

It was the first time his aunt had heard him 
preach, and on the way home she said : "John, 
what induced you to become a preacher ?" 

"Why, the Lord called me," said John. 

"John, are you sure it wasn't some other 
noise you heard?" inquired his aunt. 

I have frequently been convinced that it was 

40 



"some other noise" rather than the Lord's call 
that some preachers have heard. 

That, I believe, is why, in the religious 
world, the text is as applicable today as it was 
in Christ's time. 

We hear a great deal today about the army 
of the unemployed, and it truly is a great army. 
On the other hand, there is a great demand 
for good m§n. 

Good men are wanted everywhere. And this 
in the face of the fact that many men are hunt- 
ing positions. 

Even in good times almost every institution 
that employs any considerable number of men 
has applications daily from men who are re- 
fused work ; and yet, almost without exception, 
any one of these concerns would find a place 
in a minute for the right kind of a man, and at 
a salary that would enable him to wear tailor- 
made clothing and burn hard coal. 

Not long since a friend of mine, and a 
preacher by the way, who looks after the 
material as well as the spiritual needs of his 
flock, went to the head of a large establishment 
and said to him : 

"I know a good boy that I wish you would 
find a place for during vacation; he is a good 
boy and an orphan/' 

The manager smiled and said: "It is good 
of you to take such an interest in the boy, but 
we have those applications every day. We 
have no place for them." 

41 



"Yes," said the preacher, "I know that, but 
this boy is different ; let me tell you about him. 
He goes to school, is very studious, and morn- 
ings, evenings and Saturdays he goes from 
house to house offering to wash dishes, clean 
windows, sweep, dust, or do anything he can 
find to do to earn money to pay his expenses." 

The manager immediately became interested 
and said, "I want that boy; I can use him," 
and the minister, being also interested, in- 
quired what kind of a job he had in view for 
the boy. 

The manager said : "Oh, I don't know what 
I'll put him at, but HI find a place for him ; 
send him to me." 

He was looking for that kind of material, 
and so is every other big establishment in this 
country. 

Too many people get the idea that the world 
owes them a living and they do not want to 
put forth the proper effort to earn it for them- 
selves. They have no idea of giving value 
received. 

Honest, reliable, energetic, faithful, conscien- 
tious men are hard to find. Many young men 
think if they have a diploma from an educa- 
tional institution they have a passport that will 
be recognized anywhere, but not so. 

A college education is a splendid thing to 
have, but it is by no means the only essential 
thing. Education without honesty of purpose, 

42 



stability of character and a determination to 
succeed is of little value. 

A friend recently sent me a copy of a letter 
which he said he had just written to a young 
friend of his and wanted to know if it was 
good advice. He said the young fellow had 
a job with a big concern which is always 
hungry for the right sort of young men but he 
wanted to change positions and asked my 
friend for a letter of recommendation to an- 
other concern. This is what he said to him : 

"Here's the recommendation you asked for, 
and I hope it's too late to help you change. 
You already have a good job and I think you'd 
better keep it. The only way to earn promo- 
tion is to learn something, and none of us is 
smart enough to master all lines. A deep 
diver's equipment will not hold down the 
young man who knows all there is to know 
about his present business." 

Here was evidently a young man who 
wanted to rise faster than his wings would 
carry him. 

Not that it is wrong for a young man to 
change his position; it is often desirable to do 
so, but there is too much of a tendency among 
the young men of the present to become dis- 
satisfied and want a raise in salary before pro- 
ficient enough to earn it. 

This class go from place to place and never 
become valuable to anyone. The manager of 
a big concern asked me a few days ago where 

43 



he could find a first-class man, well versed in 
their line, to take charge of a branch house. 
I replied that all the men I knew who would 
be capable of filling the position were already 
employed at good salaries. "I guess that is 
true," he said, "and the only thing for us to do 
is to find the man and then go after him with 
a salary that will induce him to change." 

"The harvest truly is great, but the laborers 
are few." 






44 



"THE FEMALE OF THE SPECIES." 

Text: And the wife see that 
she reverence her husband. — 
Ephesians 5:33. 

THE preacher who isn't popular with the 
ladies might as well resign his commis- 
sion and go to raising hogs or plowing corn. 

Whether the Unordained will ever reach 
that enviable position remains to be seen. 

My decision to preach a sermon to the 
ladies may result in forever alienating what 
little affection the fair sex have for me, but 
realizing that in my flock there are quite a 
number of wives and sisters who have pa- 
tiently followed the preacher while he drubbed 
away at the lords of creation, I have felt that 
it was due them to have some special attention. 
We preachers as a rule, preach to men, be- 
cause of course, the women do not need to be 
preached to; ninety-nine per cent of them are 
without fault and the other one per cent don't 
cut much ice. 

Paul said : "The man is the head of the 
wife." It is reported, however, that Paul was 
a bachelor and never married. If he had he 
might have written differently. 

We arrive at conclusions from observation, 
and my observation leads me to conclude that 
the great majority of men who have been 
worth a funeral procession are not the men 

45 



who have been the heads of wives, but men 
who have had heads in the persons of good 
wives. 

I do not mean a Carrie Nation, Belva Lock- 
wood or Mrs. Lease kind of a wife, who think 
that they individually have been called upon 
to reform the nation, but a real wife. 

Yes, I'll admit that there are some men who 
are brutes, and who are no more fit to be the 
husbands of gogd women than the devil is fit 
for heaven, but I sometimes wonder if women 
really appreciate the efforts that are put forth 
for their comfort and happiness. 

Go into a hotel at nine or ten o'clock at 
night ; look in the writing room and see there 
the traveling men writing up their orders of the 
day, and after they have finished leaving in- 
structions at the desk to be called for the 3 :40 
a. m. train and then retire for four hours' sleep. 

Are these men traveling for pleasure or to 
simply satisfy a personal ambition? 

Look all about you ; see men laboring hard 
at desk, behind the counter, in the street, on the 
railroad, behind the plow. What percentage 
of the product of their labor goes for their 
own personal gratification? 

Please remember that we are talking now 
about men — not bummers or booze fighters. 

I am fully aware of the argument on the 
other side ; of overworked housewives and cry- 
ing babies, etc., etc., but that is not the side 
I am arguing now. 

46 



I believe it is the tendency of the modern 
woman to want to shine just as brilliantly in 
society as her neighbor, no matter what the 
difference in income, that is responsible for 
a great deal of the domestic infelicity of the 
present day. 

The young husband who labors hard all the 
year only to find that he is deeper in debt than 
at the beginning, and with nothing to show for 
it but out-of-date gowns and card party prizes, 
is not likely to grow sweeter as he grows older, 
and it isn't long until there are little family 
scraps, and then charges and counter-charges 
of infidelity, etc., etc. ; down comes the framed 
certificate that says, "What God has joined 
together let no man put asunder," and the 
judge is asked to untie the knot the preacher 
tied two years before. 

I am not one of those who would charge the 
women with all the extravagances, by any 
means, but to young wives and young women 
who expect to be wives, let me suggest that if 
you will make up your minds to be your hus- 
bands' business partners, to know how much 
they are making and insist on saving a portion 
of their salaries, be they great or small, and 
then make your homes so pleasant that they 
can't stay away from them, you will be happy 
and you can be the heads of the homes without 
your husbands ever finding it out. 



47 



REMEMBER THE OTHER FELLOW. 

Text: Withhold not good 
from them to whom it is due, 
when it is in the power of 
thine hand to do it. — Prov. 
3:27. 

TO the casual observer, or even to the 
more observing, it seems that the main 
object in life of the average individual is to 
make money. 

Since it requires money to run every institu- 
tion pertaining to life in this world, even to 
the most modest home, it may be only natural 
to ask, Why, then, should not the making of 
money be the prime object in life? 

The best answer in the negative is, that per- 
sons who become so absorbed in their chase 
after the nimble and wary dollars as to forget 
their obligations to their fellow beings, are not 
by any means the best class of citizens. 

The man who says he is under obligations 
to no one or no power but his own for his 
success in life, is a very unpleasant man to do 
business with or to have as a neighbor. That 
reminds me that I once knew of a man who had 
accumulated much of this world's goods and 
was prosperous above the average. 

When solicited one day for a donation to a 
church he haughtily refused. The pious 
brother suggested that he ought to be willing 
to do something, that he ought to thank the 

48 



Almighty that he had been so prosperous, 
whereupon he said that he didn't have to thank 
God or anybody else for his success ; that what 
he had he had made with his own efforts and 
good business management. 

It so happened — merely happened — that in 
three years from that time this same self-made 
man was a helpless paralytic, and he discovered 
that money was, after all, only a small part of 
the good things of the world. Our schooling 
is sometimes quite expensive. 

Not long since a man who has been a cripple 
for several years said to me : "If I can get well 
I can thank God that he has taught me a les- 
son. I never knew there were so many good 
people in the world. Before I was hurt I 
thought everybody was selfish, like myself; I 
had no sympathy for the unfortunate; I never 
helped a cripple, but now I can see a cripple 
half a mile away." 

The only really happy people in this world 
are those who have the consciousness that they 
have helped to make others happy. Such peo- 
ple can use money to good advantage. But, 
to return to the text. The time to do good is 
when the opportunity is present. There is too 
much of a tendency to withhold flowers and 
words of commendation until the ones they are 
intended for are past being cheered by any 
human endeavor. 

How often have we stood by the graves of 
dear friends or relatives or business associates 

49 



and condemned ourselves as we remembered 
the times when we might have said or done 
something that would have cheered them, but 
which we had omitted. 

It is commendable in us that we are usually 
willing to bury the faults of our friends with 
their dead bodies, but how much better it 
would be if we were to remember while they 
are still alive that kind words and little acts 
of courtesy are as greatly appreciated by others 
as they are by ourselves. 

I do not mean the fawning of smooth flatter- 
ers; no one with a well-balanced brain wants 
to be slobbered over, but everybody appre- 
ciates an act or word of appreciation. 

There are so many opportunities offered for 
us to do good to our fellows without it being 
very expensive for us; little acts of kindness 
that may take us a few steps out of our way, 
but the very fact that we have made some sac- 
rifice to help another, amply repays us. 

There has been a great deal of strong lan- 
guage used up in condemning the captain of 
the ship that was said to have been within five 
miles of the Titanic but who refused to answer 
the signals of distress. 

It's so easy for us to condemn the other 
fellow. Most of us join in the condemnation 
and say he should have responded and given 
aid to the sufferers. 

None of us know just the conditions, or how 
perilous the attempt might have been, but we 

50 



do know that the captain had several hundred 
human beings under his care, so it may have 
been loyalty to his own passengers rather than 
the indifference to the peril of others. 

But the point I want to make is, how many 
of us who are so ready to condemn that sea 
captain are willing to go five miles, or five 
blocks, out of our way to relieve the suffering 
of those who are not either members of our 
families or close friends, even when to do so 
involves no risk of life to ourselves or others? 

Doing good to people does not always mean 
feeding the hungry, giving money to beggars or 
raising the salary of employes. Kind words 
and courteous treatment pay immensely in 
business, and some business men have found 
it out. 

You may not have a position to offer to 
the next applicant at your office, but that is no 
reason why you should freeze him to death. 
He will go away feeling much less discouraged 
if you greet him kindly and tell him in a polite 
way that you have nothing for him and wish 
him success in his efforts. 

"Withhold not good from them to whom it 
is due, when it is in the power of thine hand 
to do it." 

Remember this text every day for a week, 
and if you feel better repeat the dose. 



51 



DON'T RATE YOURSELF TOO HIGHLY. 

Text: Whosoever exalteth 
himself shall be abased; and 
he that humbleth himself 
shall be exalted. — Luke 14:11. 

WHEN I was a boy my father's house was 
a sort of headquarters for preachers. 
This may or may not account for the fact that 
I never became anything better than an unor- 
dained preacher. 

Some of the ordained ones I liked and some 
I did not. 

I dared not say then that I did not like any 
of them, because I would have been considered 
very wicked to have found fault with a 
preacher. 

While I have, today, the utmost regard for 
a good preacher and believe that he deserves 
the respect of all men, yet I have discovered 
that preachers are only men and some of them 
very faulty men at that. One of the preachers 
I liked — because he brought his whole family, 
including a little girl I liked very much. 

He gave me a little Sunday school card, be- 
cause I was a good boy, on which was printed 
the words of our text. 

Right here I want to say that you never can 
estimate the results of the impressions made 
on the minds of the young. 

52 



I read that card and re-read it. I committed 
it to memory. 

I looked up the words in the dictionary and 
learned that to be abased meant to be de- 
graded, humiliated, and that to be exalted 
meant to be raised up in rank or power. 

So I figured it out that if a fellow wanted 
people to think well of him he must not get 
stuck on himself. 

The words of that text were burned on my 
memory. Perhaps it was because I needed 
to learn them. 

I had received hundreds of cards with scrip- 
ture texts on them and had many given to me 
after that, but that one I never have forgotten, 
not even the color of the card; and whenever 
I see one of those peacock fellows who acts 
as if he was the whole show, I remember that 
little card and wish I had some extra ones 
that I might present one to him ; and whenever 
I find myself swelling up and having a desire 
to blow off like Nebuchadnezzar, that little 
salmon-colored card bobs up and stares me in 
the face. 

No one likes to hear a man going about be- 
littling himself, for it always looks as if he 
were seeking flattery. 

One may be possessed of knowledge that he 
has acquired by study or experience, or both. 
He may feel conscious of some ability in a 
certain direction, and even congratulate himself 
that he knows something and need not make 

53 



himself conspicuous by his ignorance when he 
goes out among his fellows. He can, if he will, 
display his knowledge at the proper time in 
an humble and inoffensive manner and make 
friends, or he can spout like a whale and dis- 
gust everyone within ear-shot of him. 

I care not how well posted a man may be, 
whenever he trys to "show off," and by his 
manner attempt to create the impression that 
he "knows a whole lot," he immediately lowers 
himself in the estimation of even the unlearned 
and ignorant. 

I know a man who is one of the best edu- 
cated men I ever met. He is a graduate of 
Harvard, has traveled around the world and 
has made his million. He can converse on any 
subject intelligently, and yet there isn't a trace 
of the braggadocio about him. Such a man 
is exalted in the eyes of his friends because 
of his simplicity, his humble attitude. 

There isn't a greater truth in holy writ than 
the words of our text. It applies to men in all 
walks of life. 

Many business men fail to make a success 
because they assume a superior air with their 
customers. Their whole attitude is calculated 
to make the customers feel that the merchant 
thinks he is better than they. Many clerks 
make this same mistake and it drives away 
trade every time. 

The man who really knows something, and 
who impresses people with his knowledge, is 

54 



the man who keeps himself in the background 
and who does not get his big "I" in the way 
of his knowledge. 

Some one has wisely said : "To give some 
men responsibility makes them grow. Others 
merely swell up." 




55 



WHERE MONEY DOESN'T COUNT. 



I 



Text: For we brought noth- 
ing into this world, and it is 
certain we can carry nothing 
out. — 1 Timothy 6:7. 

wonder how many years it will take the 
human race to learn the truth of this 
text. 

It is one verse of Scripture, at least, that 
the most rabid agnostic must admit is true. 
It is, in fact, just one of the thousand little 
nuggets of truth and philosophy to be found in 
that wonderful Book of books, and it would 
certainly seem as if the world ought to be 
better just in proportion as men become fa- 
miliar with these truths. 

I do not like to see men so ultra religious 
that they cannot read a newspaper, or smile 
when they see or hear anything humorous, 
neither do I like to see them so extremely 
worldly as to forget that every man owes a 
duty to his neighbor. 

As a nation we are rich and growing richer 
at a remarkable rate. So avaricious have we 
become that the first question we ask regarding 
any proposition is, "How much is there in it?" 
Not "Will it benefit our neighbors, the com- 
munity in which we live, the world at large?" 
but "Can we make money out of it?" 

56 



There is no denying the fact that money is 
a good thing. It is what we all work for, early 
and late, and without money there is very 
little substantial aid that any man can give 
another, but when we get to the point where 
we set up a dollar and worship it, as the Israel- 
ites did the golden calf, it is time to call a 
halt and reflect on the words of the text. 

We are very sure that one of these days 
there will be rectangular holes dug out at the 
cemetery in which will be placed only our 
bodies, with the conventional grave clothes 
about them. All that we have accumulated 
during our lives will be left behind. 

We will go as we came, except that we came 
innocent of having defrauded any one or com- 
mitted any crime. 

When we read of the death of a wealthy! 
citizen the notice usually contains also the 
statement that, "he left an estate valued at 
'steen thousand dollars/' Invariably the state- 
ment is to the effect that he left it. You never 
read of where a man took anything with him. 

After all what do we live for? Did you ever 
ask yourself that question? 

I believe that the Almighty intended us to 
enjoy the life here and not postpone it all for 
the life hereafter, but there can be no real en- 
joyment in life to those whose prime object is 
to get money for the sake of having it — who 
permit money to become their master instead 
of making it their servant. It would be a 

57 



good thing for the world if more men would 
become convinced that a man ought not to 
die rich, and if they would reach that decision 
before they get so enormously rich by oppress- 
ing others, it would be better for the world and 
the wealth would be more evenly distributed. 

I am not putting forth the argument that 
men of means should divide with the public — 
should make men beggars by giving them 
money without any equivalent, but wouldn't 
it be well for the "captains of industry" to 
make themselves more worthy of the title by 
making the industries over which they are cap- 
tains a little more profitable for the privates? 

I am inclined to think that if Goldsmith had 
lived in the Twentieth century he would not 
have written : 

Man wants but little here below, 
Nor wants that little long. 
That is not the spirit of the times. We seem 
to forget that we cannot have much or little 
very long here below, and in our endeavors to 
get much, and apparently with the idea that 
we can keep it always, we grow cold and 
selfish. 

I heard a man say the other day: "I have 
no ambition to get rich ; I want everyone who 
works for me to share my prosperity. ,, He 
pays good wages and is kind to all his em- 
ployes, and there isn't a single one of them 
who wouldn't be willing to work overtime, 
even all night, without a word of complaint. 

58 



This man is not a church member, but he 
puts into practice many of the teachings of 
Him who founded the Church and who de- 
nounced the hypocrisy and greed practiced by 
many who pretend to be His followers, but 
who seemingly forget that a church member- 
ship does not make a practical Christian. 

Since it is impossible for us to carry any of 
our worldly possessions beyond the brink of 
the dark river, why not have a few more bon- 
fires on this side and illuminate the pathway 
a little for our fellows? 




59 



THE JEWEL OF CONSISTENCY. 

Text: And why beholdest 
thou the mote that is in thy 
brother's eye, but perceivest 
not the beam that is in thine 
own eye? — Luke 6:41. 

YES why is it, my friend, that you can see 
the smallest kind of a mote, maybe no 
larger than a microbe, in your brother's eye, 
but can't detect a sawlog that is blurring your 
own vision? 

Did you ever stop to consider what an incon- 
sistent, unreasonable sort of a creature you 
are? 

If you haven't, it is about time you should 
get in front of a mirror and study yourself 
a while; turn the searchlight on yourself and 
perhaps you will be able to locate a few of 
the beams that have accumulated in your own 
windows, and when you have removed them 
you can see more clearly the mote in your 
brother's eye; and when your vision has been 
properly cleared you will not find that little 
mote so offending as it was before. 

How strange it is that it is always some- 
one else who is wrong, but ourselves always 
right. 

I have known people who belonged to church 
who were always finding fault with the ways 
the business of the church was handled. This 

60 



thing and that was not done right, according 
to their way of looking at it, but they never 
had time to attend a business meeting of the 
church, and their financial support was so in- 
significant as to not be worth mentioning. 

There are other church members who will 
find fault with and condemn a brother for tak- 
ing his family out for an airing on Sunday after- 
noon, but who themselves will remain at home 
and gossip with the neighbors, and whip their 
children for being so wicked as to want to go 
for a walk on Sunday. 

Some men will lose five dollars' worth of 
time to save five cents on a bill of goods, and 
at the same time accuse the man from whom 
they are buying of being close and stingy. 

I once sold a man an article for $1.25. In 
about a week he returned it and said it didn't 
suit, and wanted his money back. I gave him 
$1.25, and he said: "That isn't right, I paid 
you $1.75." "Oh, no," I said, *y° u are mis- 
taken, it was only $1.25." But he insisted that 
he was right, and I stuck to it that I was right, 
because I knew I was and when I know I am 
right I stick up for it. 

The man finally got mad and said he didn't 
like to see people get so darned positive about 
anything; that they might be mistaken. Now, 
it never occurred to the gentleman that it was 
possible for him to be mistaken — oh, no ; he 
was all right; he could see the mote in my eye 

61 



all right, but he could not discover anything 
wrong with his own vision. 

There is a great deal of family trouble that 
would be avoided if some husbands and some 
wives would get the beams out of their eyes 
before trying to pluck the motes out of their 
partners' eyes. That is a delicate subject, 
however, and I simply leave you to think about 
it, Just remember that there is a possibility 
of your being in the wrong sometimes. 

A farmer finds fault with his merchant, and 
accuses him of trying to get the best of him, 
and of charging him too much profit on the 
goods he buys. 

The merchant says the farmer wants it all 
and is not willing to live and let live, and so 
they lay awake nights studying how to get 
even. 

The merchant will stir up his farmer cus- 
tomer about the bill he owes, and insist that 
he must have the money to meet his obliga- 
tions, but when the jobber comes at him in 
the same way he loses his temper, and points 
to the fact that he is a good customer and is 
entitled to consideration, and when he hasn't 
the money with which to meet his bills, he 
ought not to be crowded. 

And so it goes, all along the line we find peo- 
ple finding fault with others. If others were 
only as free from faults as ourselves, we think, 
this world would be a good place to live in. 

What would be the effect on business and 

62 



society in general if we were to reverse the 
order, and instead of looking for others' faults, 
look for their good qualities, and search our- 
selves a little for faults? The beams thus cast 
out would justify the establishing of several 
new sawmills. 






63 



JAN 27 1913 



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